


When You Dream

by SeriousMoonlight



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon Autistic Character, F/M, Multi, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:22:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3801754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeriousMoonlight/pseuds/SeriousMoonlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short story interludes set in the same timeline as <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3371030">When You Sleep</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've been mentioning starting this for a bit, so here's the first little When You Sleep side story. Most of the chapters in this work will probably be short - I just wanted to write stuff down that I couldn't fit into the main story for whatever reason. This also gives me a chance to write from other character POVs and stuff!
> 
> This one takes place after the first chapter of When You Sleep, back in Haven after completing Champions of the Just. Also, this chapter has implied endgame spoilers! I wouldn't read it unless you've finished Inquisition!

"Lavellan?"

Estraven froze in her tracks, wincing at the sound of Solas's voice. The expression she forced onto her face as she turned to face him was one that she hoped looked casual.

(It didn't.)

"Oh, Solas! Um, how can I help you?" she asked, attempting to nonchalantly lean against the wall of Haven's chantry and instead stumbling in place. The other elf frowned as he looked at her.

He clasped both hands together behind his back and looked down at her as she straightened herself up. "Forgive my bluntness, but since we returned from the Seeker Fortress you seem to be avoiding me. I wished to apologize for anything I may have done to offend you," he said calmly.

Estraven rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them like a soggy blanket. "Well," Solas said after too long, "if that's all, I'll leave you to it."

"No, no--" Estraven sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, Solas. You didn't do anything wrong, really. Envy, at Therinfal… it showed me some… upsetting things."

"It must have been a frightening experience, to be sure," he said.

She wrung her hands, staring at the knitting on his tunic instead of looking him in the eye. "It took your shape when it was in my head. You -- well, not _you_ \-- _it_ killed the Keeper of my clan. Not really, obviously, but I can't get the image out of my head."

Because she was staring at the fabric of his shirt and not his face, Estraven completely failed to notice the way Solas's jaw tightened and his brows furrowed, and by the time she looked back up at him his expression had returned to the standard mask of perfect calmness he wore.

"Such a vision would upset anyone." His voice was even.

"Maybe, but it's been terrible of me to punish you for something you didn't even do."

Solas swallowed a bitter laugh.

Estraven offered a shy smile. "I'm sorry. Thank you for talking to me about this. I'm, um… not used to being able to talk about things that bother me. I'll try to do it more so this doesn't happen again."

He returned it with a smile of his own, one that looked sincere but wasn't even approaching it. "It's no trouble, Lavellan. I'll let you enjoy the rest of your day."

As he moved to leave, Estraven made a quiet noise, and he stopped.

"You, uh, you can call me Estraven," she said as she fidgeted, her blue eyes looking up at him with something resembling plaintiveness. "I mean… we're friends, after all, right?"

Solas paused. "Yes," he said.

"So it's weird for you to call me my clan name all the time, then."

"Then I will refrain from doing so. We'll speak later, Estraven." He smiled again, and this one was genuine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole tries to figure out the best way to help the Inquisition members in Haven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cole POV time! This takes place between Chapters 2 and 3 of When You Sleep. Major endgame spoilers! Please enjoy <3

Cole watched.

There were so many things going on in Haven, even during the stillness of the night when everyone laid down to rest. So many secrets it made his head spin. So many people who needed help. So he observed, quietly.

Solas, full of secrets and sorrows, unable to separate where Solas begins and Fen'Harel ends, if they can even be separated at all. The loneliness made Cole's own heart ache. He wasn't sure how to help Solas yet, but that was what the watching was for.

Blackwall, brimming over with pain and shame, hiding under old armor and someone else's name. Cole doesn't know how to help him, either. 

Estraven radiated anxiety and fear, and Cole saw her glancing off toward the wilderness sometimes, felt her chest tighten, knew how badly she wanted to run away but couldn't. It permeated her every thought and interaction, and he felt her loneliness too, but it's different from Solas's - this can be helped.

He started with small things, first. Flowers on her pillow - her favorite kinds were easy to find in the woods around Haven, little blue things with strong stems that she and her sister would weave into each other's hair. It was easy, and it made her happy, until she became so determined to catch her "secret admirer" that she started setting up buckets of water above her door. Cassandra hadn't been happy when she needed to rouse Estraven for an early morning meeting that day. Cole had to try something else.

The next approach was more direct. When she came out of a war room meeting full of worry and self-doubt and loathing, Cole was there to greet her.

"You did well. Please don't be so hard on yourself," he said, and with a wave of his hand, he had never been there at all.

Estraven blinked and continued on her way, attempting to puzzle out why she didn't hate herself quite so much after these last few meetings.

"You know, kid," Varric said one day as Cole exited the Chantry, "you don't have to make her forget you when you tell her something nice."

Cole paused and tilted his head. "Why?"

"She needs friends, not anonymous boosts to her self-esteem." Varric shrugged. "Maybe try talking to her sometime. No do-overs, no forgetting. Who knows -- it might make her even happier to know someone cares about her enough to want to help her out."

Cole considered this, biting the inside of his cheeks as he thought. "Okay."

The next day when Estraven left the war room, she bumped directly into the tall human with the funny hat. "Ack! Cole! I'm sorry, I didn't see you th--"

"They believe in you. They know how hard this must be on you, and they understand. You remind Leliana of her friend Valla, unsure and cautious, but stronger and braver than she ever knew."

Estraven stared up at him. He stared down at her. He didn't make her forget.

"Oh," she said, and Cole wondered why her cheeks were so warm, why her heart started fluttering so hard in her ribs. "I -- well -- um -- thank you?"

Varric chuckled from the corner he watched in. It wasn't what he had in mind, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Valla Surana is my Warden in this fic's timeline)


End file.
